I was going to devote another post to “Low T’ and male “menopause” today. Check back on Monday for that because the early news out of the Food and Drug Administration, whose Reproductive Health Advisory Committee is set to meet today to decide on a final verdict, is that flibanserin falls short of its promise to improve women’s sexual desire. Citing issues with the manufacturer’s data, the FDA says that studies do not show significant improvement in a woman’s sexual desire and also fails to note the significant side effects associated with flibanserin, including depression, dizziness and nausea. The ultimate decision could possibly deal a huge blow for profits that could exceed $2 billion dollars.
Importantly, it appears that hype about flibanersin (and more specifically, low sexual desire) has reached a new low. Not only have the company’s marketing efforts pushing the “fact” that one in 10 women suffer from low sexual desire (this figures varies in the medical literature), but the company even funded a Discovery Channel documentary to promote greater awareness of the disorder, a documentary that featured company-paid experts and was reviewed by the company before it aired.
As I’ve written time and again, low sexual desire is a serious and troublesome problem in women that can significantly affect quality of life, self-esteem and relationships. Some experts dispute that female sexual disorder even exists (although clinical experience in postmenopausal women speaks otherwise). However, whether or not you believe in low sexual desire, one thing remains true: when it comes to sex, women operate on a different plane than their male peers. Studies have shown that sexual desire in women is highly reliant on context, experience and personal attitudes. Therefore, you can’t simply fix the symptom without exploring underlying contributing factors.
Do we need another pill in the bedroom? Do we need a female viagra? I hope that the FDA Reproductive Health Committee tells Boehringer “no.”
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context? does this mean if your partner is a creep your sexual desire goes down? yeesh!
don’t like to doubt any disorder that may be very real to people and compromise their quality of life, but I don’t know how this was done in a scientific vacuum.
also, side effects being depression, dizziness and nausea? sounds like a real aphrodisiac to me. nothing like being aroused with the inability to close the deal.
so my answer: if we need another pill in the bedroom it sounds like this is not the on.
Totally agree Amy. I”ve been against this one for some time now!
WOW!
My wife was great untell surgery, then it went down hill.